My Nonprofit Reviews

mdavidovich85

Stages Theatre company provides many different resources and opportunities for adults and youth to explore theatre and the impact in their lives. Their unique focus in page to stage production and education programs emphasizes reading and literature as an important part of a child's development. Their programs are designed well to allow youth who simply want to explore the theatre to give it a try and also allow students who want to pursue a career in the theatre opportunity for training and productions. Finally, their partnerships with various schools and school districts allow for school-day theatre programs for many school where the budget doesn't allow a theatre program, making theatre more accessible for all.

SteppingStone Theatre is a great place for young people to explore theatre in their lives and to see how it helps them build confidence and become strong, thoughtful individuals. Both the education programs and the productions are well organized and focus on process, yet they yield stellar products. As a teaching artist who contracts with SteppingStone regularly, I am treated respectfully and fully welcomed into the SteppingStone community. The staff there is always willing to have conversations on how to improve the programs there and offer great, constructive feedback for future programs. SteppingStone is a wonderful resource for the St. Paul Community!

This past January, I unfortunately had to end my business relationship as an acting teacher with the Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts. In my experience there, the managing director and the artistic director have made decisions that have compromised the quality of the programs and also have proven to run a disorganized business.

Ultimately, it was through a very poorly handled renegotiation of my contract that made my decision to leave final, but there have been many factors that have made it difficult to work with the Lundstrum Center and their goal of being an innovative and supportive training ground for musical theatre performance:

- Business matters had been passed around between the artistic director, the managing director, and the business manager, never being clear about who is the point of contact or ultimately responsible for these matters.
- The artistic director offered little support for the strengthening of the acting component of student’s training; the dancing component seemed to always supersede.
- The semester showcase was ultimately a poor example of the students work and forced teachers to work on product and not process.
- My classroom space was occasionally used as costume storage, for the showcase, making it difficult to have a consistent and comfortable space.
- The use of microphones during the showcase not only is an insult to my voice and speech work with the students, it sends the wrong message to students who are learning how to use their voice in the theatre.
- I have had little support from the artistic director in dealing with behavior issues and attendance issues.
- An overall sense of disorganization, disrespect, and an unclear goals from the leadership staff.

The students there are a joy to be around and work with, but it’s not fair that their potential is diminished by certain individuals. I have sent this same information to the Board of Directors in the hope that they reevaluate their leadership staff at the Lundstrum Center.